When the Portuguese magician Luis de Matos made an elephant and a Ferrari disappear in front of 12,000 people in a Lisbon sports stadium for the Expo '98, when the Spaniard Mag Lari cut a person in eight pieces in his 2007 show Secrets, and when a magical chest spat fire, smoke and objects during a recent production at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, Carles Ferrandiz was never far away.

He might shy away from the limelight, but Mr. Ferrandiz's invisible hand is behind some of the most spectacular magic tricks performed in Spain and the rest of Europe over the past 40 years. Together with his team of six, the owner of the Mágicus magic shop in Barcelona manufactures devices for magicians and theater productions, invents magic tricks and makes objects and people disappear upon request.